Otology

Bone-anchored hearing aid subjective benefit for unilateral deafness†‡

  1. John W. House MD1,*,
  2. Joe Walter Kutz Jr. MD2,
  3. Janice Chung MA3,
  4. Laurel M. Fisher PhD4

Article first published online: 3 FEB 2010

DOI: 10.1002/lary.20802

Issue

The Laryngoscope

The Laryngoscope

Volume 120, Issue 3, pages 601–607, March 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

House, J. W., Kutz, J. W., Chung, J. and Fisher, L. M. (2010), Bone-anchored hearing aid subjective benefit for unilateral deafness. The Laryngoscope, 120: 601–607. doi: 10.1002/lary.20802

Author Information

  1. 1

    House Clinic, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

  2. 2

    Department of Otolaryngology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A.

  3. 3

    Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

  4. 4

    House Ear Institute, Clinical Studies, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

*House Clinic, 2100 W. 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90057

  1. †

    Presented at the American Otological Society Annual Meeting, San Diego, California, U.S.A., April 27, 2007.

  2. ‡

    This study was internally funded by the House Ear Institute; no author has financial interest in the information in the contribution.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 16 FEB 2010
  2. Article first published online: 3 FEB 2010
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 6 NOV 2009

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Keywords:

  • Unilateral deafness;
  • APHAB;
  • bone-anchored hearing aid;
  • benefit

Abstract

Objectives/Hypothesis:

Determine the benefit of the bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) in patients with unilateral deafness.

Study Design:

Retrospective case series and prospective questionnaire study at a tertiary referral center.

Methods:

Patients with unilateral deafness of various etiologies who were implanted with a BAHA (n = 126) or not implanted with a BAHA after a translabyrinthine craniotomy (n = 126) were mailed questionnaires. A total of 139 patients (55%) responded to the questionnaires. Patients who were implanted with a BAHA received a general questionnaire concerning BAHA usage, the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB), and the Speech, Spatial, and Qualities of Hearing Questionnaire (SSQ). Patients not implanted with a BAHA received only the SSQ hearing questionnaire.

Results:

Patients with unilateral deafness demonstrated a benefit with BAHA use on the APHAB. Most improvement with the BAHA was seen in the Background Noise subscale, with a 17.4% improvement. Ease of Communication and Reverberation subscales also demonstrated an 11.6% and 13.2% benefit, respectively. Patients with a BAHA demonstrated better scores in the SSQ Speech subscale when compared to unilaterally deaf patients who did not have a BAHA, although this difference was not significant.

Conclusions:

The APHAB demonstrated significant benefit with the use of a BAHA in patients with unilateral deafness. Although the SSQ speech subscale showed overall improvement in auditory disability with the use of a BAHA, this difference was not significant. However, the SSQ hearing questionnaire demonstrated specific situations were the BAHA is most useful. Laryngoscope, 2010

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